T4tomo
Legendary Member
funky wheesl / rims, but yes it looks a but high geared to be useful anywhere with hills atm, but that's easily rectified.
What Have You Fettled Today?
- Thread starter threebikesmcginty
- Start date
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funky wheesl / rims, but yes it looks a but high geared to be useful anywhere with hills atm, but that's easily rectified.
Windle
Über Member
- Location
- Burnthouses
Fitted the 'new' bars and stem to my Trek 810 at the weekend. The bars I had on it were decidedly tatty and I'm sure they weren't straight, they just felt odd and the stem was a big chunky thing which came off my Giant XTC4 (both replacements for the original high rise stem & bars that the bike came with). I'm not being a weight weenie as the bike is a beast, but I did weigh the parts and the new ones were the thick end of 300 grammes lighter! They look much better too. Old cockpit shot picture.
New set up, I just need my new grips to arrive to replace the old black ones and it'll be done.
New set up, I just need my new grips to arrive to replace the old black ones and it'll be done.
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ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
My sister had a window with a broken latch when I visited a few weeks ago.A couple of wobbly upvc window latches. Glad to go from noticing when cleaning to researching/pondering and fixing in 10 mins.
She bought a new mechanism for it and I said that I would fit it for her.
It turned out that she had bought the wrong size. The metal shaft of the handle was too long.
She said that she would get another one but I said that 30 seconds work with a hacksaw would sort it out...
Pah! 30 seconds with the part held in a vice and using a large, sharp hacksaw, maybe...
Holding the part with one's fingers and using a blunt junior hacksaw - 10 minutes of sweating, swearing, and nearly amputating those fingers!
Eventually, I got the part down to size and then it was only a few seconds to replace the mechanism.
Yesterday, I removed the folding pedal on my Brommie, pinged the seal off and cleared out all the gunge before packing it with grease before refitting.
I do have a new 6203RS bearing but will leave it until next time to fit it as the clean-up has sorted out the grinding noise & there's no discernible play in it.
I do have a new 6203RS bearing but will leave it until next time to fit it as the clean-up has sorted out the grinding noise & there's no discernible play in it.
Eek! I can imagine myself doing the same thing. Glad your fingers lived to type the tale
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
I checked the chain for wear. I haven't done a huge distance on it but overgeared climbing on that bike does seem to accelerate wear on my ageing body. And the bike transmission!Oops, 0.75%! I don’t want to prematurely wear my new chainring so I put a new chain on. I have always sized chains by 'big-to-big plus a pair of links' so I did that again. Too short! I hadn't factored in that it is a 1x transmission. The technique mentioned is to ensure safety if a rider accidentally selects biggest ring and biggest sprocket, not to make that combination good to ride. The rear mech was horribly extended. On a 1x all gear ratios should work cleanly. I had to patch a length of the discarded bit of chain back in!
Er, oops #2...
(I spotted that the chain is routed on the wrong side of that tab!)I took the chain off and rerouted it...
It's amazing...
- That I didn't hear the new chain rubbing on the tab. (Being hard of hearing probably explains that!)
- How grubby everything has got in less than 100 km of riding. I'll clean the bike before I ride it again.
Ming the Merciless
There is no mercy
- Location
- Inside my skull
Radially and laterally true. Had made a mistake with lacing with two pairs of spokes wrong way round. All corrected. Now stopped before I introduce any further errors as I tire. Bit of dishing and final tensions tomorrow.
DCLane
Found in the Yorkshire hills ...
- Location
- Dewsbury, West Yorkshire
Partially bike-related but I've tidied the parts shed. Things were getting everywhere; now the shifters / derailleurs are in one place, the bar tape is organised (I've about 20 packs accumulated 
), inner tubes are sorted (I've about 50 from bulk purchases), chains are in order - lots of 10 speed, only a few 11 speed - and the cassettes are in the right boxes. Still some finishing off, but almost there.
), inner tubes are sorted (I've about 50 from bulk purchases), chains are in order - lots of 10 speed, only a few 11 speed - and the cassettes are in the right boxes. Still some finishing off, but almost there.
Jameshow
Veteran
Partially bike-related but I've tidied the parts shed. Things were getting everywhere; now the shifters / derailleurs are in one place, the bar tape is organised (I've about 20 packs accumulated
I'll be round later! 👍🤣
Vantage
Carbon fibre... LMAO!!!
- Location
- Behind everyone else, Bolton
Starting yesterday morning I rebuilt the motor with it's new bearings, gaskets and crank arms.
No spare washers or screws left over which is a first for me and oddly enough, it's running smooth as melted butter.
Having put everything back in the correct order I then went on to fit the drive side crankarm on the left and vice versa. I only spotted it when refitting the pedals when the right pedal wouldn't screw in. Duh!
No spare washers or screws left over which is a first for me and oddly enough, it's running smooth as melted butter.
Having put everything back in the correct order I then went on to fit the drive side crankarm on the left and vice versa. I only spotted it when refitting the pedals when the right pedal wouldn't screw in. Duh!
Ming the Merciless
There is no mercy
- Location
- Inside my skull
Wheel dishing and final tensions completed today. Rim tape, tyre and tube. Initial test ride passed with longer outing tomorrow. Can now strip dynamo wheel down and send off under warranty as bearings going…
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
2 ongoing problems to sort out on my DIY 6-speed bike...
Problem #1: I have been having problems with an annoying squeaking sound from my shoes on the SPD pedals. I managed to get it to stop for a while by squirting the pedal and cleat with GT85 but the noise came back after a couple of short rides.
The release tensions on the pedals were set to minimum so I tightened them up to about halfway between min and max. That helped a little to reduce the amount of movement of the shoes.
I also adjusted the cleat positions slightly, which changed which parts of the shoes were touching the pedals. Another improvement.
The thing that eliminated the noise though was greasing the cleat recess on each shoe. Literally not a squeak from them in 100 kms of riding since then.
Problem #2: A damn ticking noise again. One of those hard to track down sounds which is both irritating and worrying. (Is something about to fail?!)
I have recently converted the bike to Hollowtech. I fitted a used bottom bracket, but the bearings seemed in good condition so I doubted that was to blame. Was it something in the rear wheel...?
I swapped in the rear wheel from my best bike. The noise had stopped! Okay, no problem with the bottom bracket, the problem had been with the wheel then...
I thought that the problem was probably in the freehub rather than the wheel bearings since the ticking noise didn't happen when freewheeling. I took the freehub off. A quick check of the wheel bearings anyway - yes, they felt fine. I took the cassette and freehub off. Quick check of the freehub bearings - ah, they felt fine too!
It was possible that the bearings only complained under pedalling load but maybe the noise came from something else? One thing that looked a bit iffy was the stack of spacers that I had used in my DIY 6-speed cassette. I reckoned that I needed another mm or two to give the lockring a bit more to bite onto. I replaced one spacer with a thicker one.
I cleaned and greased everything as I reassembled the cassette and freehub and then put them back onto the wheel. I put the wheel back in and went out for a ride...
(Immediately...) TICK TICK... (Damn!!)
(A couple of minutes later...) TICK TICK...
(Another couple of minutes later...) tick tick...
(And then...) tick tick...
(And finally!) Silence!
The only thing that I can think is that something was moving against something else but I hadn't quite managed to grease that interface. As the ride progressed, the grease eventually found its way in and did its job. Anyway, the bike was beautifully quiet again for the rest of the ride; hopefully it will stay like that!
This evening, something occurred to me...
I have recently converted my Devon bike to 32 mm tyres. I brought back some used 28 mm Zaffiro Pro tyres and some unused 28 mm Rubino Pros from Devon. I had worked out that my best bike (Cannondale CAAD 5) had enough clearance for 28s, which will make riding on rough Yorkshire and Lancashire roads a lot more comfortable. The Zaffiro tyres had been fitted, tested, and found to be a big improvement. The 6-speeder only had clearance for 25 mm tyres so my stock of 25s could now be reserved for that bike...
Hang on - today I had swapped in a 28-clad wheel into a 6-speed bike which I thought could only take 25s. It turns out that yes, 25s only at the front, and they are a tight fit. The back of the bike however can (just) take 28s, so I have a new plan - the Rubinos are better than the Zaffiros so they have now been put on the best bike. A 28 mm Zaffiro has been put on the back of the 6-speed bike and the other Zaffiro is a spare for that wheel. The 25 mm Continental tyre off the back is now another spare for the front. Those 2 bikes now have the biggest tyres that will fit and I have plenty of spares.
While I was working on the bikes I tightened a few stem bolts which had felt a tad loose. I also checked that the left Hollowtech crank bolts were still tight enough.
I'd really like not to have any more bike issues for the rest of the summer please, bike Gods!
Problem #1: I have been having problems with an annoying squeaking sound from my shoes on the SPD pedals. I managed to get it to stop for a while by squirting the pedal and cleat with GT85 but the noise came back after a couple of short rides.
The release tensions on the pedals were set to minimum so I tightened them up to about halfway between min and max. That helped a little to reduce the amount of movement of the shoes.
I also adjusted the cleat positions slightly, which changed which parts of the shoes were touching the pedals. Another improvement.
The thing that eliminated the noise though was greasing the cleat recess on each shoe. Literally not a squeak from them in 100 kms of riding since then.
Problem #2: A damn ticking noise again. One of those hard to track down sounds which is both irritating and worrying. (Is something about to fail?!)
I have recently converted the bike to Hollowtech. I fitted a used bottom bracket, but the bearings seemed in good condition so I doubted that was to blame. Was it something in the rear wheel...?
I swapped in the rear wheel from my best bike. The noise had stopped! Okay, no problem with the bottom bracket, the problem had been with the wheel then...
I thought that the problem was probably in the freehub rather than the wheel bearings since the ticking noise didn't happen when freewheeling. I took the freehub off. A quick check of the wheel bearings anyway - yes, they felt fine. I took the cassette and freehub off. Quick check of the freehub bearings - ah, they felt fine too!
It was possible that the bearings only complained under pedalling load but maybe the noise came from something else? One thing that looked a bit iffy was the stack of spacers that I had used in my DIY 6-speed cassette. I reckoned that I needed another mm or two to give the lockring a bit more to bite onto. I replaced one spacer with a thicker one.
I cleaned and greased everything as I reassembled the cassette and freehub and then put them back onto the wheel. I put the wheel back in and went out for a ride...
(Immediately...) TICK TICK... (Damn!!)
(A couple of minutes later...) TICK TICK...
(Another couple of minutes later...) tick tick...
(And then...) tick tick...
(And finally!) Silence!
The only thing that I can think is that something was moving against something else but I hadn't quite managed to grease that interface. As the ride progressed, the grease eventually found its way in and did its job. Anyway, the bike was beautifully quiet again for the rest of the ride; hopefully it will stay like that!
This evening, something occurred to me...
I have recently converted my Devon bike to 32 mm tyres. I brought back some used 28 mm Zaffiro Pro tyres and some unused 28 mm Rubino Pros from Devon. I had worked out that my best bike (Cannondale CAAD 5) had enough clearance for 28s, which will make riding on rough Yorkshire and Lancashire roads a lot more comfortable. The Zaffiro tyres had been fitted, tested, and found to be a big improvement. The 6-speeder only had clearance for 25 mm tyres so my stock of 25s could now be reserved for that bike...
Hang on - today I had swapped in a 28-clad wheel into a 6-speed bike which I thought could only take 25s. It turns out that yes, 25s only at the front, and they are a tight fit. The back of the bike however can (just) take 28s, so I have a new plan - the Rubinos are better than the Zaffiros so they have now been put on the best bike. A 28 mm Zaffiro has been put on the back of the 6-speed bike and the other Zaffiro is a spare for that wheel. The 25 mm Continental tyre off the back is now another spare for the front. Those 2 bikes now have the biggest tyres that will fit and I have plenty of spares.
While I was working on the bikes I tightened a few stem bolts which had felt a tad loose. I also checked that the left Hollowtech crank bolts were still tight enough.
I'd really like not to have any more bike issues for the rest of the summer please, bike Gods!
DCLane
Found in the Yorkshire hills ...
- Location
- Dewsbury, West Yorkshire
After this morning's slightly damp race - where I was race crew - I played with the grasstrack Fuji Track, a pair of son no. 2's track wheels, a 44 tooth chainring I'd bought and the tyres I'd bought from @Velochris on here.
They're a pair of Mavic Ellipse, previously belonging to a pro rider, and have seen use by son no. 2 as an Under 14 plus as his 2nd/3rd choice wheels. The Challenge Elite XP tyres went on fine and I re-used the latex tubes in there previously with the GP Supersonic track tyres going into storage. It felt a little under-geared with a 42 tooth chainring and much better with a 44 tooth on, coupled with a 17 tooth sprocket.
Let's see what happens tomorrow should grasstrack racing happen if it's dry and how they compare to the 30mm Schwalbe CX Pro tyres I've been using previously, matched with a pair of old tatty wheels.
They're a pair of Mavic Ellipse, previously belonging to a pro rider, and have seen use by son no. 2 as an Under 14 plus as his 2nd/3rd choice wheels. The Challenge Elite XP tyres went on fine and I re-used the latex tubes in there previously with the GP Supersonic track tyres going into storage. It felt a little under-geared with a 42 tooth chainring and much better with a 44 tooth on, coupled with a 17 tooth sprocket.
Let's see what happens tomorrow should grasstrack racing happen if it's dry and how they compare to the 30mm Schwalbe CX Pro tyres I've been using previously, matched with a pair of old tatty wheels.
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